June 29 2011 | Volume 10, Issue 3

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Dear Faithful Readers,

Putting my fan hat on for a second...I love when I get the opportunity in sports to experience something new and unique that is outside the norm when attending a game. Don't get me wrong, saving money or receiving a free gift card to the team shop is great, but what really gets me excited is being able to have once-in-a-lifetime experiences that most people don't get the chance to encounter. That is why when I came across the Brewers' FAN-TASTIC 40 Program, I wished I was a Brewers fan! The Brewers put together not one...not two...but forty unique prize experiences that are priceless for any baseball fan. This week's issue reveals that if you provide unique, experiential promotions, fans will be more than happy to hand over their credit cards and, if won, have amazing experiences they will cherish for a lifetime!

Enjoy the Feature,

Joe Shapero
[email protected]

P.S. Love the feature? Hate it? Wish we covered a great idea or program your organization is doing? Email me with any and all of your comments from this week's issue and we will include them anonymously on our NSF LinkedIn Discussion Board!

Brewers Create "FAN-TASTIC" Prize Promotion

Fans in Milwaukee gain opportunity to win 40, one-of-a-kind experiential prizes.

CONTACT

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Jim Bathey
Vice President of Consumer Marketing
Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club
Phone: (414) 902-4527
Email: [email protected]

Caitlin Moyer
Senior Manager, Advertising & Marketing
Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club
Phone: (414) 902-4596
Email: [email protected]

ORGANIZATION

Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club

PROGRAM TITLE

Milwaukee Brewers "FAN-TASTIC 40" Program

OBJECTIVES

Since acquiring the team in 2005, the Milwaukee Brewers' new ownership has made a concerted effort to deliver the best fan experience possible, whether at Miller Park, through broadcasts, or over the internet. After a down year on the field in 2010, the Brewers created substantial buzz over the offseason with two major signings and trades for pitchers Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke. Even though this was already creating incredible energy for many Brewers fans, the team wanted to do even more to have all of their fans excited for the upcoming season. The goal was to create more buzz in the market that would drive season ticket renewals as well as new season ticket packages by providing unique experiential opportunities to fans that bought these season packages for the 2011 season. Brewers' EVP - Business Operations, Rick Schlesinger, said it best, "Our goal was to come up with a promotion offering prizes and experiences that are priceless, and every day will offer a new opportunity to win something unique to Brewers Baseball."

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Replicating similar programs such as the Arizona Diamondbacks' "30 Prizes in 30 Days" and the New York Mets' "Amazin' Mets Perks - 30 Days of Daily Awards", the Brewers created a 40-day promotion that awarded unique, experiential prizes to fans who purchased Season Ticket packages for the upcoming season. Calling it the Milwaukee Brewers "FAN-TASTIC 40" Program, the promotion ran from Monday, January 17th through Friday, February 25th, in which one Brewers Season Seat Holder per day was selected by the team in a daily drawing to win a designated prize. In order to be eligible for the drawing, fans had to purchase or renew a 20-game package or above and those fans that had already purchased tickets in the offseason were automatically entered.

The promotion created so much traction because of its creativity and one-of-a-kind experiential prizes the Brewers offered. Included in the 40 prizes were: running in the Klement's Famous Sausage Race at a Brewers home game, sliding down Bernie Brewer's slide at Miller Park, signing a major-league contract for a day (including big-league pay) as well as having your photo on every season ticket for one game (Want to see the entire list of prizes? Click Here).

Larry Schaefer, winner of the Big-League Contract prize, signs his one-day contract in front of Brewers' GM Doug Melvin.

MEDIA

The campaign was promoted via multiple marketing channels. First, a four page, full color mailer was sent to all current and past Season Seat Holders. Additionally, full page, full color ads were placed in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on January 5th and 16th and FSWisconsin ran 15 second TV spots. Online banner ads were run on various websites as well as prominent placement on brewers.com. Lastly, Clear Channel digital billboards promoted the winners of each prize on a daily basis throughout the promotion.

PARTNERS

The Brewers' media partners at Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) were tremendous throughout the entire promotion. After each day's winner was selected, CCO permitted the Brewers to display the winners' name across all their digital boards in the Milwaukee market. The CCO team also captured live photos of their display so the Brewers could post the image on their Facebook fan page, a unique marketing opportunity for CCO to demonstrate their digital real-time capabilities.

In addition to working with CCO, a number of current Brewers' sponsors were gracious to assist in creating the fantastic prize list. Klement's donated the sausage for a year as well assited in the prize to run in the Famous Sausage Race and Palermo’s donated pizza for a year.

RESULTS

The Brewers were extremely happy with results of the "FAN-TASTIC 40" Program and sold 1 million tickets for the 2011 season by January 19th, matching the earliest date that the club has ever reached that milestone. It was also deemed a great success with remarkable feedback they received from Season Seat Holders during and after the campaign. Many eligible participants complimented the Brewers on how well the program was thought out, including this one: "I want to compliment you and the Brewers sales staff on an ingenious promotion for new and renewing Season Seat Holders. The prizes you've assembled are impressive and will pique the interest of your most ardent fans, the season ticket holders. Between this offer and the recent Greinke signing, I hope you are working overtime processing new Season Seat Holders!"

Working with current sponsor Klement's, the Brewers were able to include a year's supply of sausage as one prize.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Brewers plan on rolling out a similar program to incentivize Season Seat Holder Renewals again for the 2012 season. Many of the prizes will remain unchanged, however the Brewers plan on adding a few new ones to keep it fresh and exciting for their Season Seat Holders and the marketplace.

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